Madmen Tell Tales, Dead Men Don't
by quizzler219
Summary: She's abused. He's traumatized. They're both mentally unstable. Throw rivaling gangs into the mix and things just get complicated. Can the two still meet despite their crumbling worlds? AU
1. Broken Gass is Unbearably Sharp

Hiya! This is the first story I've ever written at least semi seriously. I hope you enjoy because I'm kind of satisfied with this first chapter. The end of the chapter is a little rushed though, so pardon me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its' characters, this applies to the whole story.

* * *

The anesthetic burned her nostrils. This bleached white castle was far too bright for her dark world, the people much too cheery. They would smile at her as they drove needles into her skin, unknowingly pricking her soul. How were they happy? This world was so rotten it made her want to barf. She just wanted to disappear. Suicide wasn't an option though. They would have to move her body and rearrange her belongings. In the end she would be more trouble to others.

Besides, she couldn't leave Hanabi alone with that man. What kind of big sister would she be if she left her sister to suffer.

Click

The door opened and the most disgusting person she had ever seen in her life walked through. His waist-length hair looked as if it had been fried in chicken grease and brushed back into a ponytail. He stepped closer towards her, almost hesitantly.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. It won't happen again."

It was a constant thing. He beat her and then apologized. Hit her some more, and begged for forgiveness.

"I-It's okay." Lie. How the hell was stabbing her with a broken beer bottle okay? He had always hurt her with his fist. Occasionally he would use a blunt weapon but he had never actually stabbed her. It had been bad enough to warrant admission to the hospital. He probably told them she had gotten into a fight with some local thugs. That was always the cover story. That she was a troubled delinquent and they moved from place to place because of it.

Truth was that he was abusive and their relationship was toxic. The fumes were overwhelming and starting to slowly overcome her. It wouldn't be long before her mind completely broke. She was actually kind of anticipating it. Maybe when the last of her sanity shattered she would go ballistic and kill him. No death sentence for her. Insanity is always a plausible reason to murder someone after all.

There was an extremely awkward pause in which he shuffled around the room a bit. Readjusting the curtains and fixing the flowers an extremely kind nurse had placed on her bed stand.

It wasn't until the door opened and her little sister entered that some of the tension was relieved.

Hanabi was 12 years old despite the fact she was only 4'7. She wore her dark hair in a way that obscured most of her face from vision, leaving one eye visible. The other eye had been busted up during an, er… incident.

It had happened when Hanabi was only four. Hinata's mom had left him in favor of a different man, Hiashi had been so angry that he had put his hands on them. It was the first of many beatings that would occur.

She could remember it clear as day. It had been storming pretty hard that night and Hanabi had gotten scared so naturally she went to go lie down next to Hinata. Hinata heard shouting that screeched in her ears so terribly it made her blood boil.

She climbed out of bed and peered through the rail bars of the stairs, almost like a prisoner watching the guards pace across the facility.

"It's not like you love me anyway! Always ignoring me and treating me like I'm some sort of trophy. To be admired but not touched, seen but not heard!" Her mom's words would stick with her. Her words were powerful.

"I CARE ABOUT YOU!" Her father roared. His throat sounding as if the pinkness had been scraped out with a butter knife.

There was a pause before her mother's eyes blazed a fiery white, surging with something a young child could not comprehend.

"Perhaps you care about your image," Her voice was a whisper now. Hinata hadn't even noticed Hanabi sit down next to her.

"but I know for a fact you don't care about me."

Hiashi stood there, clamoring for words. He was shocked to say the words had obviously burned him. He knew it was the truth and boy did the truth hurt.

Hinata watched as her mother gathered her things and left without a word. Why hadn't she even said goodbye? Did she not care about them?

Hiashi's shoulders shook with rage as he cursed at the wind. He started to fling things across the room, shattering the family photo they had taken just last week.

"Stop!" Somehow Hanabi's squeaky voice resonated throughout the entire house. Hinata hadn't even noticed she'd left the room.

She latched onto their dad, her tiny arms wound around his huge leg. Hinata's heart sank. What was happening? Why had Momma and Papa fought so viciously? Why wasn't she here, holding them tight and explaining everything to them?

"If you break the good stuff, there's only bad stuff left." Hanabi's illiterate words seemed to fuel something in Hiashi, making him grab her head with his large hand, thumb embedding itself into the deep sockets of her eyeball.

Hinata could barely scream before her younger sister was thrown across the room, just as the family photo had been.

Sadness swirled and twisted with anger to form something inexplicably dangerous inside the young girl. The horrified look on Hiashi's face only further fueled this emotion. He was acting as if he hadn't meant to hurt her.

But it had been his hand that had hurt her younger sister. His hand that had plunged into her eye. His hand that had broken the photo frame. His hand the destroyed their family.

His hand destroyed us…

His hand destroyed…

Hand destroyed...

Destroyed han...

Destroy his hand!

The leaves started to feather off of the tree known as her mind. Fall had come, obliterating the fun summer that had once been there.

She ran down the stairs and lunged at him, plunging her teeth into his hairy hands. He yelped with pain as he threw her off into the wall.

Crack. That had been her rib. It stung like the disinfectant her mom had used when she scraped up her knee. Only a million times worse. The tears started to well up in her eyes. This was nothing like a scraped knee.

She couldn't go down just yet though, Hanabi had to be protected. She turned her head to try to get a look at her.

Her younger sister was sprawled across the ground, shoulders shaking from sobbing she assumed. It wasn't until Hanabi had thoughts along the same line as Hinata and turned her head in her direction that she saw the gruesome sight.

Blood leaked from her eye while tears flowed from the other. Her face had this pained look on it that made Hinata's chest hurt even more.

What had he done? Why had he done it?

Turning to look at him she saw a sight that made her chest constrict tighter than Hanabi's had. Why was he the one looking so pained? He was the one that had put them through pain.

It would be years before she could even hope to understand that look.

She was drawn from reminiscing as the man she called father spoke. She had moments like that alot, ones where she would think hours had passed when it had only been a few seconds.

"We're moving again as soon as Hinata's out of the hospital."

They didn't respond. Hanabi was pretending to be mute in front of everyone except for her sister, and Hinata was afraid of saying the wrong thing again. It was what had put her in the hospital in the first place.

He left the room, leaving the two siblings to themselves.

"Hinata," the younger of the two spoke. Her voice raspy as always from never using it.

"It's getting worse. He went a little further than normal this time." The eldest Hyuuga child couldn't help but but agree.

But what was she to do? She wanted so badly to leave, to whisk Hnabi away from the hell that had become their lives. But she was trapped. Every time they moved her father always mad sure to become friends with the local authorities. Making it so utterly difficult to get help. Not to mention that the youngest of them was twelve, and Child Protective Services tended not to care about children over the age of 10. They were trapped, and screwed, and suffocating.

Hanabi shuffled a bit, eye rolling around the room like something straight out of Harry Potter.

Hinata noticed this, nothing seemed to ever escape her eyes. "I-Is something bothering you?"

This question lolled around the room, an unsettling feeling hovering between the two. Hanabi was hesitant to answer, but did so anyway.

"You got hurt because of me," She mumbled nearly inaudibly. "if I had come home earlier he wouldn't have been so angry and you wouldn't have jumped in front of me."

Hinata's heart froze. She was blaming herself? She, who knew full well that it was her father that was in the wrong, was blaming herself? Hinata sat up fiercely, making pain shoot through abdomen, she didn't care though. She had to clear things up.

Her eyes drew fire, fiercely staring into her younger sister's eyes, "It is not your fault. Unless you threw my body in front of that beer bottle, you're not responsible for it."

She watched the shock and relief roll around on her sister's face, finding a place to settle down and sink in. And once the emotions had discovered a nice spot, Hanabi cried through what eye she had left. They held each other and sat like that for a little while.

* * *

The next day Hinata had been told she could go home. But before the discharge papers could be signed, they forced her to speak to a counselor of sorts, going along with the cover up that she was a deranged delinquent.

He was a short and gruff old man, yet somehow managed to hold some twinkle of kindness in his eyes despite his rough appearance. He clearly looked as if he didn't want to be there.

"So, is there any reason as to why you feel the need to fight the way you do?"

The old man was blunt and straight to the point. Things would go much quicker this way, Hinata decided she liked the old man.

She shook her as to disagree, "No, n-not really. Fighting is fun, exciting. Some sort of adrenaline rushes through your veins and your flight or fight instinct start to kick in."

She was getting a little excited now, talking about this was getting her riled up.

Okay so maybe the part about her being a delinquent wasn't as far fetched as she originally thought. She couldn't fight for shit, but it was fun to be around the fight, to watch others get beat and to have to run from the scene to protect yourself.

Years of abuse had taken it's toll on her, and she wasn't as mentally stable as she should've been. Abuse does different things to different people. Abuse made her like hot blooded fist fights, but not appreciate them when she was getting beat by her father. She hated the abuse from him, but loved to watch others fight. Basically, consensual abuse was her thing. If two people were exchanging life threatening blows it excited her, but if the abuse was one sided her heart clenched and her throat ached. Perhaps it was the simple fact that in an actual fight, you're asking for it. You're not some innocent person that happens to be unlucky, you actually have a choice. She wanted a choice. She wanted to fight back against her abuser. But she couldn't so she watched others do it in place of her.

"Ah, so you're an adrenaline junkie? That clears things up. Thank you and goodbye." The gruff old man gathered his things and left. And within a few minutes Hinata herself was gone too.

* * *

Hmm, it took me forever to write this for some reason.

I wrote the first thousand or so words within one session, but didn't complete the rest until a few weeks later in another session. Altogether it was written pretty quickly, the span of time however, not so much.


	2. Your Shots of Liquor Burn my Memory

**Hmm, it took me forever to write this for some reason. **

**I wrote the first thousand or so words within one session, but didn't complete the rest until a few weeks later in another session. Altogether it was written pretty quickly, the span of time however, not so much.**

* * *

_Take a look at the outside world, get drunk on it, breathe it in. And when you're intoxicated; crush it. Because something so beautiful yet twisted at the same time can't exist._

_His breath froze in his throat. Suddenly he found himself drowning, and before he knew it, he was chasing after her. _

He walked his narrow path, all the while checking over his shoulder, ensuring that no one was watching. He was making dangerous deals in the dark. It kept food on his dusty table, and books in his desk.

He'd do almost anything for money. Almost being the thin line between prostitution and drug dealing. Sure he'd give a limb, or maybe even a kidney. But never in a million years would he sell his soul. His soul was the one thing he had left. He'd make sure to keep it that way.

He stopped abruptly, finding himself in a dead end alley way. He whistled three times, drawing out the last one, before the brick in the walls opened up. He looked back one last time before hurriedly shuffling into the opening.

"You weren't followed right?" He looked up at the voice. It belonged to a tall girl. She had two neatly wrapped buns on top of her head, framed by bangs parted down the middle. She had a sour look on her face, like she had somewhere better to be.

"Nah, ya' know I'm too good for that, Tenten." He offered a cheesey grin and pushed passed her.

The brick door was only the pathway, nowhere near the hideout. The long winding road was dark with a few lights along the way, but other than that you couldn't even see your own hand.

Naruto chuckled to himself, their leader sure did like his secrecy. He had an inkling feeling it was paranoia rather than safety and protection.

It was a fifteen minute walk the rest of the way. And when he finally reached his destination he was greeted by the second sentry. A pale teen with pitch black hair and eyes, wearing an obviously forced smile on his face.

"You're late." He stated bluntly. That was Sai, always straight to the point.

He produced a sheepish grin. "Sorry, sorry, those lackeys were a bit tougher than I'd originally thought."

Naruto had been sent to take care of some minor thugs that were screwing around on their turf. They were obviously idiot noobs who had no idea what they were messing with. One of them had even used a _gun_ despite the fact that Konoha's gangs had all made some sort of unbreakable agreement that guns weren't to be used. They were flashy and always attracted the police's attention. If guns _were_ to be used, it had to be done discreetly. Silencer on, in a deserted area with no witnesses.

Their town wasn't like those filthy gangs that you saw on T.V. No, they were far more sophisticated. Not quite on mafia level, but definitely not on street gang level. Hence their group's name, _The Inbetweens. _

They got down and dirty, just inconspicuously.

"Hurry up and go through, I really don't have all day. I have an art class to get to."

Naruto chuckled to himself once more, and headed in.

…...

Honestly, she hadn't meant to overhear the conversation. She had been on her way to the convenience store to purchase some womanly goods when she had seen him.

She had noticed the way stereotypical looking thugs would either avert their eyes or stick up the middle finger behind his back.

Hinata was an observant person, so naturally when she saw the way the sunny haired kid was being looked at, she followed.

It was a couple blocks away from where she originally was. She watched him go into a dead end alleyway and with her God-given acrobatic skills jumped onto the roof using the fire escape of one of the parallel buildings.

She saw him whistle few times before the bricks were removed by someone on the inside and he disappeared.

That, however did not explain her current situation. After suddenly finding the entrance to what she could only assume was Wonderland, Hinata figured the best course of action was to go back to the store and get what she had originally intended and hopefully clear her mind of the strange events.

On the way back to her new house ( she moved around at least once a year) she saw some kid around Hanabi's age being harassed by a couple of thugs. The scene was oddly nostalgic to her but instead of jumping in and saving the boy she decided to watch. She was no hero after all and at least someone would be able to get a small taste of her suffering.

"Hey, lil' man!" The pale one spoke, "You work wit' dem rich mofos right?"

The kid puffed out his chest proudly before removing his unnaturally long scarf. "What if I am?"

His subtle taunting stirred something up in the pale thug making him walk toward the prepubescent child. His dark skinned partner moved a hand across his chest so as to tell him to stop.

"Chill, Doug, it ain't that big a deal."

The dark skinned thug placed a loving arm around the brown haired kid's shoulders, almost as if they were companions.

"We just need to know where the lame-ass hideout of them inbweteen dudes is at." He gave a broad smile, showing his many missing teeth.

The kid nodded his head as if to show he understood, "Okay. I'll tell you,"

The gangster's eyes lit up in shock for a split second. They obviously hadn't expected it to be this easy.

"if you give me a million bucks." The child laughed to himself starkly, as if he had just told the funniest joke in the world.

The paler one of the two obviously had a short fuse, and the kid had just blown it. He rushed toward the child, raising his fist to throw a punch the child saw this coming and dodged.

He threw out his long, blue scarf as if it were a lasso, and got hold of the pale one's neck. His partner obviously wasn't just going to stand by and watch, so he pulled out a switchblade and tried to cut the scarf. When it didn't work he stood there in shock, lowering his guard.

"What the f-," Was all he could get out before the child twisted the scarf around, trapping both thugs inside of it.

The dark skinned one appeared to be hiding a million other switchblades underneath his baggy shirt and whipped one out accordingly, throwing it toward the kid. The kid was too preoccupied with subduing the attackers. The only way for him to dodge was to release them, so he did.

They chuckled darkly as the kid's eyes widened in fear. Hinata watched from afar, her blood boiling. The fights in her old town were nothing like this. They were always lame and ended quickly, this however was on a totally different level.

The attackers rushed forward, zigzagging and crossing paths as the dark skinned one pulled out a few switchblades and the paler one appeared to be holding thin air.

Hinata, the ever observant one, noticed that he was not holding thin air but small silver strings. It was then that it clicked in her head, they were meant to be partners. Whoever was their boss had put them together for a reason.

She had only looked away for a second but when she turned back the kid was on the floor, covered in blood.

"Dammit, Jay, we went too far." The pale one spoke.

The darker skinned one shook his head, "Nah, he's still conscious."

He approached the child and crouched down to his level, "You wanna tell us where they are now?"

No response.

His Nikes made contact with the open wound as he pushed into it. The kid screamed out, reminding Hinata of when Hanabi got hurt like that.

Still no response.

"Dawg, I hate to do dis' to ya' but I ain't got no choice."

The pale one of the two approached the kid with appeared to be a half empty bottle of vodka that had been littered about. And she knew what he was using it for.

Her body moved on it's own, and soon she was flying toward them flipping through the air and aiming a kick at the one holding the alcohol. It was light, but it had scraped his chin and knocked him unconscious.

Before the other one knew what hit him she had grabbed the vodka and splashed it into his eyes, causing him to scream out in pain.

Hinata was no fighter, but with precision strikes and her agility, she could get rid of someone if she had to. If only she could stand up to her father like that.

The kid backed away from her, and she smiled so as to calm his nerves. "It's o-okay, I'm here to help."

He relaxed although still somewhat tense, she removed her jacket and threw him on her back, wrapping the jacket around his small body.

With no where else to take him, she headed for her house. Her dad wouldn't be back for a few hours and Hanabi would understand.

…...

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently. The boss' messenger was always late. All naruto wanted to do was go home, watch some T.V, and eat some cup ramen. They had come out with a limited takoyaki flavor and he was dying to try it.

He looked up at the sudden slam of a door, and the scraping of a heavy object against the floor.

It was Suigetsu, the messenger. His light purple shirt was splattered with blood, creating a color Naruto hadn't even known existed. Suigetsu chuckled lightly as he made his way over, licking the blood that had made its way onto his face off.

Naruto felt the corners of his mouth rise, "Karin beat you up again, waterbug?"

Suigetsu sighed in resignation, "I didn't even say anything' offensive, just commented on the fact that she was still single and it had to be because of her dashing personality."

Naruto barked out a laugh, "Was that supposed to be advice or…"

"I was genuinely trying to help! She's your cousin dude, do something about it."

Naruto was going to correct him, saying that she was some extremely distant relative and whether or not she was his cousin remained unknown, but he had suddenly whipped out a white envelope stamped with a red seal.

The boss' orders.

Suigetsu gave a curt nod in farewell and promptly left the weird room-corridor-thingy.

The thing about the boss was that nobody knew who he (or she, Sakura made sure to slap him every time he left the she out) was. Orders were always given through a third party, and while Suigetsu swore he had absolutely no idea as to who the boss was, Naruto thought otherwise.

Shaking his head in exasperation, he tore the rim of the envelope open to receive his orders.

One word was written on the otherwise blank sheet of paper:

Recruitment

* * *

Hinata ran a hand through her shoulder length locks, which were getting too long for her liking and should probably be cut. This kid was troublesome, why the hell had she taken him in?

She recited to herself what she assumed most people told themselves after seeing her and her sisters situation, _"Mind your own business and you won't get hurt."_

But _nooo_, she had decided to play hero and had had probably gotten herself into some deep shit.

She watched as the beaten up kid talked animatedly to Hanabi, who took in every word as if he were speaking some foreign language.

"Yeah- and then Hina-oneesan was like, _'boom!' _and the guy was knocked out cold!"

Hanabi nodded her head excitedly, like they were talking about some episode of _Power Rangers_.

Hinata decided to break up their little chit chat, "Umm, kid, do you have someone you can call to pick you up?"

He looked at her as if she had just told him his mother was a whore, "I'm perfectly capable of taking myself back home!"

She gave a soft smile as he jumped up too quickly, and ended up nearly knocking Hanabi over in the process.

"Yeah, I know you're strong, but you're injured. A soldier needs their rest after all." She insisted, and he begrudgingly complied.

"Ahh, but I can't call Asuma-ojisan, he'll want to know why I'm all banged up..." He thought aloud, tapping his finger on his chin.

His face lit up as he reached a solution, "I'll call Naruto-niichan!"

Assuming he was his brother or something, she handed him the phone.

There was a barrage of, "Yeah.." "Mhhm" "I'm fine!" Before he finally read the address off of the sheet of paper she had given to him earlier.

He gave her phone right back to her, "Naruto-niichan will be here soon!"

She smiled at him. _Good, I really don't wanna deal with this kid._

Hinata watched idly as the two adolescents chatted together. It was odd. Hanabi was selectively mute, only speaking to Hinata and making sure no one else knew she even had the ability to speak. But this kid had gotten her to talk pretty quickly, and from the looks of it they were already friends.

A ghost of a smile graced her lips before the sound of the doorbell brought her back to her senses.

Konohamaru jumped up excitedly while proclaiming, "It must be Naruto-niichan"

Hinata gave a sigh of relief, happy that the kid was leaving before her dad showed up. She opened the door hesitantly, not knowing what to expect.

She stifled a gasp as the person on the other end revealed himself. He was that kid she had followed earlier, the one that wasn't popular with the locals. The one that had wondered into a dark alley way. The one that had _disappeared _inside the walls of said dark alley way.

A smile so bight she had to shield her eyes from made its' way onto her face. "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki- is the ki- is Konohamaru here?

Regaining her composure she nodded her head and moved her arm aside, allowing Konohamaru to be visible.

"Naruto-niichan!" He shouted as he rushed forward, eager and hyper.

"Hey Kono," He greeted as he patted the smaller kid's head. Hinata found herself suddenly wishing she was as blind as she looked as the brightness of his smile shown through as he said his next words.

"Thanks for taking care of him, he wasn't too much trouble was he?"

Something wasn't right, none of this made sense. Why was some brat having a battle to the death? Why was said brat relying on someone that disappeared into brick walls?

_"We just need to know where the lame-ass hideout of those inbetween dudes is at_."

_"You **work** with them rich mofos right?"_

It all made sense now. The blonde kid standing in front of her was apart of some secret society and the little one next to him was connected to it. She had also discovered the hide-out of said secret society that was supposedly very valuable information.

Recalling that she as in the midst of a conversation, and although only two seconds had passed it felt like forever, she replied to him.

"Yeah, it was no problem. I couldn't just stand there and watch some low-lives pick on a little kid for no reason."

Lie. She was fishing, hoping he would call her out on the 'no reason' part.

_Sorry Hanabi,_ she thought. According to their current situation she as very capable at letting others get picked on for no reason.

She caught him tense slightly at her words. Most people wouldn't have been able to spot it, but she lived with a liar so it was easy.

"Yeah, Kono's always been an easy target for bullies."

Konohamaru as about to protest until he realized that was the cover story.

"Well, sorry for the trouble! See you later, maybe.." Naruto said the last part to himself.

Konohamaru waved excitedly as he said farewell, "Bye Hina-oneesan, Hanabi!"

Hinata waved back but Hanabi stood still, stark mute in the uneasy presence of the blonde haired teen.

The next day as her new teacher, Iruka, introduced her to the class, she spotted the yellow top that belonged to the unruly head of none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

They made eye contact, and while he smiled, she was simply filled with dread.

* * *

**I know, I know! I'm a terrible person aren't I? Feel free to stone me, let's just have a public stoning.**

**The ending was rushed, just like the first chapter but I'm more proud of this one. Hopefully next chapter I can divulge into more about Naruto and his secret society madness. **


	3. If You and I is We, Am I Us?

I'm terrible, but at least there's a chapter right?

It had been a week since Hinata had come to this new school. She'd settled in pretty easily, kept her head down as she'd always done. She was trying her best to mind her own business despite that nasty tugging at her every time she spotted Naruto- or yellow top as she referred to im in her mind.

It was curiosity. Blatant, nagging, infuriating curiosity that she couldn't quench. She would forget about him and his magical disappearance into the brick wall she'd stumbled upon only to remember it upon seeing his tanned face and distinct whisker marks in the hallways.

As she was reminded of his involvement in some secret society(Illuminati, she'd chuckled to herself) every time his face showed up, Naruto wasn't helping matters.

Ever since she'd helped who she'd originally thought to be his younger brother(he wasn't), he'd been stalking her. He appeared around every corner trying to make conversation with her. When she would deliberately sit down at the emptiest table in the cafeteria he would follow.

His friends would follow him- and her quiet corner was suddenly the loudest and most attention-drawing place in the cafeteria. They would make conversation with her and while she did her absolute best to be quiet- she couldn't just ignore them. That would be rude (not ruder than almost leaving a 12 year old kid to bleed out in the street) but this was basic human interaction that she couldn't possibly pass up.

And begrudgingly- she admitted- it was nice.

She was just thankful that it was Friday and she wouldn't have to see those fuckers for two whole days.

Bring!

There was the last bell. She hurriedly stuffed her supplies in her bag and filled out the class just as everyone else did.

The door was literally two feet away from her when Naruto popped out of nowhere and started speaking with her.

"Hey- so Sakura and Sasuke totally abandoned me and I reeeeally wanna go see that new Ouija horror movie but I can't go by myself- or rather, I can't piss my pants by myself,"

By this point they were walking and talking- well she was doing the walking while his mouth chattered on.

"therefore you have to come with me!" He finished.

She shook her head at him. A part of her really wanted to go but she knew that'd be irresponsible. She had to look after Hanabi and besides- anytime she let herself get close to someone she usually ended up burned. Not to mention the fact Naruto was apart of something dangerous- something she didn't want to be associated with by any means.

"I, uh, I can't."

He had to lean in closer to hear her and the proximity was making her uncomfortable. Hadn't he heard of boundaries?

A frown formed on his face, and something tugged at her. "Why not?"

"I-I have to watch my little sister, and my dad's pretty strict." Perfect excuse. Totally true.

An odd expression worked its' way onto his face before he chuckled lightly, "Can't be too strict if his daughter's a delinquent."

She faltered before freezing. "What are you talking about?"

Her tone changed and she could see the perplexion on his face.

"Well if you can beat up two grown men then you gotta have some fighting experience."

Shit. She'd forgotten about that. She had to cover it up, she needed a good excuse- a great one.

"I didn't beat them up, I-I just caught them by surprise." Crap, that stuttering was so convincing.

He grinned like he knew something she didn't. "Well according to Kono you kicked ass!"

Damn Brat, She thought, I should have shut him up.

She couldn't have people knowing or thinking she could fight. While she suck out violence in some hopeless sense of releasing stress- she wasn't trying to attract attention, especially the attention of someone who disappeared into freaking walls!

She stopped abruptly, "Look,"

She jabbed a finger into his chest, "I am not a delinquent, nor am I a fighter so you'd better-"

Her lips froze. There was something moving behind Naruto- someone- and it was moving fast. That was when she'd finally noticed she was in the middle of the same alleyway that he'd disappeared into a week before.

"Look out!" She moved him (or had he dodged?) just in time to avoid a well calculated stab to the back of the neck.

Naruto chuckled inwardly as Hinata tried to explain to him how weak she really wasn't. He got the fact that she didn't want to attract attention, but why was she so desperate? Maybe she's in witness protection...A part of him absently thought.

She stopped suddenly and before he knew it her finger was jabbed into his chest threateningly. She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to say something before she spoke,

"Look, I am not a delinquent, nor am I a fighter so you'd better-"

She stopped once more, eyes wide in shock and confusion before she threw him to the ground. He'd dodged the knife literally a millisecond before it neared, but he was still impressed by her ability to move not only him, but herself quickly enough to avoid getting hit.

The assailant made a few more slashes at Naruto while he dodged them swiftly, knocking the knife out of his hand with the back of his own.

The assailant signaled Naruto with a pointed finger, and Naruto nodded in turn. He punched Naruto a few times before his body went limp. To Hinata he appeared unconscious, but while Naruto had actually taken those punches, and did they hurt, he was very much awake.

He watched as Hinata struggled between running away and standing her ground and fighting. She went with the latter.

As the assailant aimed for her ribs on the right, she dodged left. In succession he made two quick jabs aiming for her head, in which she dodged once more.

Is she gonna fight or are they just gonna keep dancing? Just as Naruto had that thought, Hinata landed a Brazilian kick on his chin. Naruto watched in awe as the "assailant" tumbled down. The kick had started off like a normal high one, but as it neared his face her knee turned downward.

He watched as she picked up the knife the attacker had wielded earlier, and made way towards his fallen body. "How much do kidneys go for these days?"

Naruto decided it was best he didn't allow his subordinate to be carved up like a turkey. He faked his awakening by coughing loudly, which drew her attention away from the truly unconscious man.

"Oh, are you done pretending to be asleep?" She asked angrily, "I don't appreciate being observed like some lab-rat."

Naruto chuckled as he dusted himself off, "What gave it away?"

"Earlier when he was moving to slit your throat, you dodged just as I moved you away from him."

He'd been hoping she hadn't noticed.

"Also when you factor in the fact that this guy," she kicked the body underneath her, "was acting like he was scared to hit you, it can mean only one thing."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You're his boss and this was a test."

Naruto clapped slowly for her like the puppet master he was, "Bravo, but don't you wanna know what it all means?"

A sinister smile slithered onto his face and she found herself wanting to run. She braved through it though, and drew a scowl upon her own face.

"I don't give a fuck," she watched as his face grew wide with shock, "just stay way from me, I don't have time for your shit."

She walked away in what appeared to be a smooth manner, but was shaking in her boots.

He laughed. And she shivered at the brokenness that pored out in waves.

"We're the same."

Even with her back turned she knew he had a smile on his face. He knew she did too.

They were the same.

Broken, playful little things.


	4. Clarice is a Pissed Wet Dog

Hinata hit the pavement with a thud. She felt a sharp clutch in her side. _There goes my rib,_ she thought as she flinched at the sound of the backdoor closing. She'd been kicked out numerous times but the pain of rejection always hurt more than whatever wounds she'd been nursing at the time.

Just as she'd managed to scramble to her feet, a paper airplane soared and hit her in the eye. Even with dulled senses she should have been able to dodge that. She tilted her face toward the top of the 3-story building, the highest floor where Hanabi slept. Hanabi waved her hand in apology.

As soon as she'd unraveled it a 2nd was thrown down. The first paper was a permission slip for a school trip to the beach. Granted they were about 400 miles from the beach.

She opened the second plane to two words; _Sing it._

Hinata sighed, her sister was asking her to forge her father's signature, something that undoubtedly bode unwell for the both of them.

Looking up toward her younger sister whose hair was leaning out of the window along with her head, she mimed the action of writing. Hanabi returned within seconds and dropped a pen down like a grenade.

She waved bye to Hanabi, and went off in search of a place to stay the night.

Since it was Friday, Konoha was bustling with activity. Their crime rate was unduly high, so naturally there were gangsters lurking at every corner, catcalling at everyone with a vagina.

She folded her arms underneath each other, not because it was cold, but because her rib was searing with such pain she feared it would fall out. The frost in the air bit her like a venomous snake; with only her baggy sweat pants and house slippers on she was freezing.

That was when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Her stomach dropped as she turned to view the one person she did not want to see.

Naruto.

She figured that with her still wet hair from the shower she'd taken previously and arms folded over, clutching a pen and paper she had to look like a wet dog.

She almost smiled at the analogy as she'd been thrown out like one too.

He smiled a genuine smile at her, making him appear all the more threatening. She hardened herself. For the past eight years she'd been fighting the inventor of a martial art, Naruto was nothing compared to that.

"Hiya!" He ginned

She rolled her eyes and kept walking as he attempted to get her to speak.

"What are you doing out so late?"

She walked faster, nearly losing a shoe in the process.

"Where's your jacket?

Her pace quickened even more.

"How can you fight so well?"

She slowed to a walk.

"What part of 'leave me the hell alone' do you not understand?"

He chuckled at her witty response, "I'm just a big fan of the way you defeated that guy from earlier, you didn't even have to fight him really, just dodged and then BOOM! He was out!"

"It's really none of your fucking business."

"Someone's got a potty mouth!" He riled. She spun around so quickly that he was suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands.

That was when she noticed they'd ended up at the brick wall he'd disappeared into again. He'd brought her there earlier to get her to fight right? To observe her; and somehow they had ended up there again, totally not a coincidence. There were cameras that had only been installed in that general reason for whatever reason. She was being watched like a zoo animal.

"If I tell you where I learned to fight will you piss off?" She asked venomously, unappreciative of how she was being treated. He obliged, chipper.

"I've been fighting someone stronger than you can imagine for the past 10 years or so." Well, she'd been on the receiving end of a beating; close enough.

He rocked back and forth on both of his feet, mulled it over in his mind, and then he left.

Was this _Silence of The Lambs_ or something? Was he pestering her only to gather information about her?

_Oh. My. Gosh_, she thought with a pang of disgust, _I'm Clarice. _

Naruto smiled as he walked away from his new favorite person. He had been seriously considering recruiting her, but now that he'd discovered how smart she was he was starting to think of using her instead.

Lead the wet stray onto a trail and allow her to figure it out herself. He waited around the corner of a building for her to leave before he ducked into the hideout.

Tenten greeted him halfheartedly, despite the fact that Naruto was her superior and could totally have her black listed.

"You should be happier to see me!" Naruto exclaimed, begging for the attention he knew he wouldn't get from her.

"Piss off." She stated blankly, taking a drag from her cigarette, obviously not planning on putting up with his shit today.

"Aww, did Neji come back?" He asked, testing dangerous waters.

Her eyes gleamed but she was unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her angry so she put out her cig and stared straight ahead.

Naruto walked the rest of the way laughing.

Sai, his second obstacle appeared. He yawned loudly, obviously unhappy with being given the night shift.

"Do something about this Dick-less, I should be preparing for my art show." He drawled tiredly.

Naruto waved off his complaints as the door opened, "Do something for me and we' see about that." 

He left Sai contemplating what would please him most.

As Naruto stepped into the dark batman-like cave, he was greeted by nothing. Weekends were usually the busiest since everyone had to keep up outward appearances during the weekdays.

As he reached the conference room he came across Neji, who had been sent last week to go procure some weapons. It had been the perfect set up since as Student Council President he'd been invited some place with the Principal.

"Yo~!" He shouted loudly as Neji merely nodded in return.

"How'd it go?" Naruto asked inquiring.

"It went alright, though they were being stingy at first. I think they'd been robbed before our meeting."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "We weren't cheated though right?"

Neji scoffed, offended, "Of course not. Naturally I got them to give us double the amount with only 75% of the original price."

Naruto smiled just before his eyes lit up with rememberance, "I met your cousin!"

Neji tensed. He knew he was referring to Hinata as he'd gotten word of her arrival a week ago.

"Yeah, I've been trying to recruit her but boy is she feisty." Naruto dragged on.

Neji stepped closer and leaned in, voice absolutely serious, "Don't."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up, "Look I get that you want to protect her with her being your cousin and all, but she's perfectly capable of—"

Neji reached out and grabbed him by the collar, "Seriously, don't. I say this as a member of our gang. She's completely fucked in the head."

He let Naruto go and as Naruto's stared at his ever leaving figure, he was left pondering.

Hinata winced as her rib throbbed for the umpteenth time. She really should've asked Hanabi for some pain meds. Up ahead she spotted a pharmacy. She figured she could steal some pain meds from there, and be out in no time.

But nooo, the owner had to have been restocking this late on a Friday night.

She greeted the owner with an awkward hello, preparing to bolt.

"Wait." The woman stated, dark brown eyes, taking in Hinata's thin frame and uncomfortable face.

For some reason she had waited, sensing no malice in the woman's voice.

"Do you need medicine?" She asked, voice cold but warm at the same time, a pleasant contradiction.

HInata contemplated lying, but with the way her rib was throbbing that was out of the question. She nodded.

The woman motioned for her to follow. They stepped further into the shop, up some stairs, and into an apartment.

It was a small cozy place. College degress hanging on the wall, with no family pictures in sight.

"What's wrong?" The woman asked agressivley.

"Uh- I, um, well m-m-" She scrambled.

The woman looked at her harshly, "Spit it out, girl."

"My rib is cracked." She managed to squeak.

The woman disappeared into the hallway, flipping on lights and rummaging through closets until she gathered what she needed.

"Take your shirt off."

Hinata was about to object, until she recalled the college degrees hanging about the room. This woman was a doctor.

Hesitantly Hinata removed her shirt. The woman pocked her harshly, "Does that hurt?"

"Y-Yes" _Duh, you bitch! You just slapped my broken rib! _

The woman bandaged her chest. After Hinata had placed her shirt back on, she gave her a pill and a glass of water. She took it wordlessly before spewing out a rather late, "Thank You."

The woman grunted in response.

That was when the door opened and she came face to face with eyes exactly like hers. It was her cousin, someone she hadn't seen since the 'Scholarly Minors' conference in middle school. That was when she put two and two together.

She turned toward the now frightened woman angriliy, "You're my mother aren't you?"

The woman looked down in shame. Hinata watched as Neji neared them, he probably thought she was going to hit the woman considering what had happened in middle school.

She pushed past him aggressively. Anger boiled up in the pit of her stomach, heart racing and blood boiling, she made her way outside onto the streets.

That was when she bumped into someone. She was about to apologize when they pushed her down.

"Watch where your going." They stated coldy,

She looked up and was met with the two guys she'd saved Konohamaru from.

_Shit._


	5. Coup D'etat Is French For Suck My Dick

Neji sighed quietly. He really didn't want to take that entrance into their quarters, Tenten was there. Before he'd left he'd said some rather un-nice things during their argument. They hadn't spoken since.

He leaned against the brick wall and tapped a pattern with his knuckles. Each member had their own signature entrance key; one that wouldn't look odd if they did it.

As the brick wall opened up into a door, he slid through it carefully.

He nodded awkwardly to a pissed off Tenten, "We'll talk later." He stated. She grunted in return as he made his way toward the actual entrance.

Minutes later and he was greeted by a sleepy Sai, "Hello androgynous-kun."

Neji was too tired to even give a damn about the nickname. He slipped passed Sai and into the actual place.

Dark and sewer-like was the best way to describe their hideout. While it wasn't smelly, it certainly was wet. There was much more too it than the small conference-esque room he currently stood in.

That was when Naruto arrived. Naruto was odd to say the least. He was scary in the sense that he was always smiling, even when beating someone to a bloody pulp. The scary part wasn't even that he could get his jaw cracked(it had happened once) and still force a smile, oh no, the scary part was the fact that the smile was genuine. He was actually enjoying every minute of his sorry pathetic life.

"Yo~!" He shouted loudly as Neji merely nodded in return.

"How'd it go?" Naruto asked inquiring.

"It went alright, though they were being stingy at first. I think they'd been robbed before our meeting."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "We weren't cheated though right?"

Neji scoffed, offended, "Of course not. Naturally I got them to give us double the amount with only 75% of the original price."

Naruto smiled just before his eyes lit up with remembrance, "I met your cousin!"

Neji tensed. He knew he was referring to Hinata as he'd gotten word of her arrival a week ago.

"Yeah, I've been trying to recruit her but boy is she feisty." Naruto dragged on.

Neji stepped closer and leaned in, voice absolutely serious, "Don't."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up, "Look I get that you want to protect her with her being your cousin and all, but she's perfectly capable of—"

Neji reached out and grabbed him by the collar, "Seriously, don't. I say this as a member of our gang. She's completely fucked in the head."

Back in middle school, something odd had happened. They'd been at that lame-ass academics meeting or whatever, and something terrible had occurred. To this day, he feared what Hinata would to the others. The warning wasn't to keep Naruto away from Hinata , it was to keep Hinata away from Naruto. He knew that Naruto was insane, and if the two met it would not end well.

He let Naruto go and as Naruto's stared at his ever leaving figure, he was left pondering.

"Ah~! Wait!" The blonde shouted obnoxiuosly.

Neji inwardly cursed; he had been trying to walk away cooly but having to turn back around ruined the effect.

"What?" He asked, annoyed.

"Where is everyone?"

Neji wanted to hurt Naruto, "You weren't at the last meeting? I wasn't even there and _I_ know what's going on."

Naruto shook his head innocently. Neji sighed, exasperated. "We're going to war."

Naruto tilted his head clulessly, "With who?"

"The people we've been having a turf wa with for the past 3 years!"

Naruto shook his head, "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Hell's Maggots you dumbass! They literally almost killed you a week ago! Shikamaru is leading the assault on them now. They might not be smart, but they're the largest gang in Konoha."

Naruto smiled one of those creepy,, happy ones, giggled, and then marched off onto the battlefield.

Neji didn't have the energy to sigh, so he headed home.

Opening the door he came to view Hinata talking to his 'mom'. What was she doing there? Granted it was her biological mother, but they hadn't had contact with each other in years.

"You're my mom aren't you?" Hinata shouted accusingly. That was when Neji stepped between them. Hinata had a nasty temper and he didn't want his mother to get the brunt of it.

She pushed passed him aggressively and just like that she was gone.

"Go, after her please." his mother asked nicely, coughing loudly. He looked down at her sympathetically and ran off to find his cousin.

After hours of searching, she was no where to be found. He'd looked everywhere, except for her house. He really wa unsure of where she lived.

Looking up at the sky he realized that it was dawn and he'd missed his chance to get some sleep before they took down 'Hell's Maggots'.

Sighing loudly, something he seemed to be doing a lot of these days, he made his way toward the battle field.

It was a 10 minute walk, and as he'd made his way into the abandoned factory, his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Hinata stood there, wheezing. Her hands clutching the scruff of the leader of the gang they were supposed to be assaulting. He looked down to view the unconscious body, all he could do was stare in puzzlement.

"Neji!?" She shouted loudly.

* * *

Hinata winced as they yanked her arm aggressively. Somehow it had impacted her rib, the medicine hadn't kicked in yet.

"You're just our boss' type! He's gonna love ya'!"

Hinata winced again, this time in disgust. It was just her luck that she wouldn't be captured, or have her head bashed in for beating them up, oh no, because she'd bumped into them they were so pissed they'd decided to offer her to their leader.

What were the odds that they wouldn't remember her kicking their asses, but would instead yank her towards their leader for bumping into them.

They placed a bag over her head, she rolled her eyes at the gesture. As if she couldn't already tell what direction they were headed in. She kept her ears open, she was new to town and after she escaped would probably end up lost somehow.

They walked a short way, and as she felt them maneuver her body various times, she judged they were in an abandoned place. No currently inhabited environment would have that much shit laying around.

There was knock, the sound of a door opening, and finally the bag was removed from her head.

"Look, Boss! We got you a present!"

They looked uneasy, as if waiting for him to explode. Hinata took in his figure. She had honestly been expecting some old creep, but he looked to be about her age. He was tall, and lanky.

Surprisingly he had a kind sort of cocky-esque aura about him, and was rather cute. He looked toward his lackeys in disappointment.

"You can't just bring people here against their will!" He shouted angrily at them. Hinata smirked triumphantly, at least she would be let go now, right?

They scrambled for words helplessly like ants, bowing in apology, "We're sorry boss! We just wanted to make it up to you!"

"Yeah, well you've done a shitty job! Leave!"

They muttered their apologies and left, heads hanging down in shame. He slicked his hair back as they left, leaving two stray silver strands to fall.

He chuckled nervously, "Ah~ sorry about that. Those fuckers can't tell left from right."

She nodded timidly, afraid of what was to come.

"Listen~ I'm fucking sorry but," He licked his lips as he neared her, pulling out a knife, "I'll have to kill ya now."

She nearly shrunk back before remembering that it definitely wasn't going to help.

She had to fight. She sighed tiredly, she'd done more fighting in Konoha this past week than in her life.

He made to stab her chest, she dodged cooly, face unbothered.

_Rule #1 of being weak, _She thought, _Even if you're losing terribly always look stoic. It makes them lose their cool/ confidence._

She dodged a few more swipes, she nearly smirked as his brow twitched in annoyance.

_Rule #2, use the terrain to your advantage, _Just as he'd thought he'd got her, she dodged once more, forcing him to impale the knife into the coffee table. He tried to pull it out but upon defeat, he gave up in favor of his fists.

He landed a straight right where she'd cracked her ribs earlier, using it to her advantage, she over exaggerated the amount of pain she was in(which wasn't hard considering how painful it actually was).

_Rule #3, catch them off guard._ She knew he'd felt her rib pop, and using it to her advantage faked shallow breathing, as if her rib had punctured her lung.

He stared on in shock, and then triumphance. He leaned in closely, "Game over short-stuff, looks like you can't breathe."

That was when she head butted him as hard as she possible could. During his fall he bumped his head onto the corner of the desk, promptly knocking him out. She winced as the headbutt had not only harmed him, but herself as well.

She grabbed him by his hair, and spit in his face.

The door flew open with such force that Hinata felt a breeze blow through.

"Neji?!" She shouted, surprised.

He stood there, mouth ajar, taking in the disheveled room and unconscious body.

If Neji had wanted to keep her away from his dealings, it was too late now.

She was in deep shit.

* * *

Neji listened as she detailed how she'd gotten involved. The gang they were going up against was known for having large numbers, but being incredibly weak. Hinata may not have been strong, but Hidan was definitely no match for her. Where she lacked in brawn, she made up with in brains.

He sighed, brow furrowed and hair tangled.

They'd tied Hidan to a chair as they waited for him to wake up. Neji preferred not to kill, it was much easier to take someone down by destroying them mentally than physically. Plus, there was no trail left behind.

"I need him." Neji stated blankly, Hinata didn't need to know the details, just that this guy was his prey and she needed to stay away.

She smirked, "No way. This guy's my lackey now."

Neji face palmed. Hinata moved around frequently so their interaction with each other was scarce, however, no matter how many years had passed, one thing remained constant. Her love of power.

The last timed he'd seen her was at some academics conference for teens. She'd somehow managed to monopolize the whole thing. The conference was basically a grand competition, and if you did well on it your chances of getting into a top-notch college soared. HInata had somehow managed to manipulate the judges, and most of the competitors into giving her the number one spot. While Neji, had come in second based on hard work and a rather great essay.

Hinata had been too lazy to do the proper work for the categories. He'd hated her for that after a while, but eventually got over it. He'd learned that in this world power meant more than knowledge, it was it. And it did not apply the other way around

"You can leave it to me, aniki." She stated jokingly.

He nearly cracked a smile. "How's Hanabi?"

He could see her tense a little, but waved it off as family being a senstiive topic.

"She's good. You should come around sometime, she hasn't seen you since she was 4."

He gave a lazy half-grin and nodded.

"What are you planning on doing with him? I need him away from our- _my_ business."

He trusted Hinata enough to know that she would take care of the problem for him. And that trust didn't come out of some deep, familial bond they had; it came out of knowledge of her power. He knew she could do it. His legs twitched semi-anxiously. He really needed to go check on his mom, she didn't seem all that well when he'd left her.

"You can go, I've got this." She stated calmly. He was grateful, before he left he handed her a slip of paper.

"Mom's number. She wants you over for dinner." Lie. There hadn't been enough time to invite her over.

She scoffed. Before he left the room fully, he chucked her the pills from earlier.

As he made his way out of the abandoned warehouse, he came face to face with Naruto, who was later than late.

"Shows over." He stated nonchalantly.

Naruto pouted, "You always finish things before I get here, I wanna be in the spotlight too!"

Neji shook his head in annoyance.

"Don't get lost next time then. Oh, and a little advice, stay away from Hinata."

Naruto waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, you already told me."

"No, stay away from her as in, she's dangerous, will crush you, beat you to a pulp….etc…"

Naruto laughed loudly, "Ha! Earlier her movements were piss poor, even if she did defeat the guy!"

Neji chuckled all-knowingly. "I think you're seriously underestimating her intelligence. She'll take over when you're not watching."

With that Neji left Naruto once again, pondering.


End file.
